In a recent editorial for Science magazine, a co-author and I wrote, “The ability to tell the truth, especially when it does not suit any particularly partisan aims, is an essential prerequisite for a free society.” This week, a key section of that societal foundation crumbled, as multiple leaders from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) were ousted or resigned due to continued political interference and pressure to limit vaccine access. These firings defy all scientific evidence and endanger our health. What happens when trusted science and sound public health advice are no longer the bedrock of an agency responsible for the nation’s health? We’re about to find out—but we must not allow it to stand.
It’s hard to overstate the profound impact of such a shake-up on public health across the country. While the CDC, like other federal science agencies, has experienced its share of scientific integrity issues over the years, the agency has largely stayed intact across administrations. Its functions of providing funding and public health guidance to state health agencies, its critical research investments, vital health communications, and technical assistance for communities across the country on issues from extreme heat preparedness to infectious disease crisis management have persisted unaltered.
As a result, the CDC has enjoyed a high degree of public trust across communities of different demographics. Through hard work, thoughtful communication, and strategic outreach over decades, the agency has ensured that people across the country can reliably expect to receive scientifically robust guidance for their families and communities. This is important for fighting disinformation and ensuring people are armed with the best available information to protect their health, and that of their families.
But now the agency’s expertise, and that hard-earned public trust, is under dire threat thanks to the Trump administration and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. Secretary Kennedy has diligently worked to ignore the agency’s own experts, withhold critical dollars for state health agencies, and perpetuate disinformation on vaccines, LGBTQIA+ health, and more. The disrespect toward and dismissal of CDC workers who have devoted years of their lives to public service—including in the wake of a tragic and targeted shooting—are especially offensive.
I have studied and tracked scientific integrity violations at the federal level for more than a decade, including during the first Trump administration. I didn’t think I could be shocked anymore. But these efforts are egregious even to me. They reflect an unthinkable level of disregard for science, public health, and the rule of law. This is why we cannot allow this to stand. Instead of firing the scientists who keep us safe, Secretary Kennedy should be fired, and the Trump administration must reverse course. Congress must immediately conduct oversight of Secretary Kennedy and his incompetent, harmful, and anti-science management of the Health and Human Services Department.
Systematic silencing of science
It’s critical that we recognize the situation at HHS as part of a broader pattern: the Trump administration is systematically removing independent scientific voices in order to advance an anti-science agenda. And they’re rewriting the policies that helped to protect federal workers and scientists from this type of retaliation and political interference. We saw it earlier this month with the firing of the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics. We saw it with the firing of the 400+ authors of the National Climate Assessment and the shuttering of the US Global Change Research Program. We saw it with the dismissal of the Census Scientific Advisory Committee earlier this year.
Will the public know about misinformation, if there isn’t a scientist there to call it out? The Trump administration is hoping you won’t.
Suppressing, dismissing, and ignoring the scientists at CDC contrast with the very principles that the administration advocates for in its so-called “Gold Standard Science” executive order. Encouraging agencies to be free from conflicts of interest, and transparent in their research and communication are noble goals. But the administration is not following its own advice. Silencing dissent among scientists who disagree with the interests of those in the administration is a prime example of conflicts of interest.
We cannot allow science to be suppressed or interfered with. We have said it from the beginning: RFK, Jr. is unfit to lead HHS. President Trump should fire him and appoint a qualified scientist to lead the agency entrusted to keep us all safe and healthy.
Additionally, efforts to rebuild scientific infrastructure outside of government are critical in this moment. We must ensure that the public and decisionmakers get the data and evidence they need in the absence of federal leadership. This helps us preserve public trust in science, allows our society to continue to make science-based decisions, and provides an important counterweight to the misinformation coming out of the federal government under the Trump administration.
Thank you to (former) CDC Director Dr. Susan Monarez and all federal workers doing what they can from the inside. Our Members of Congress have a role to play in keeping the CDC informed by science and staffed by experts. For those of us on the outside, we must do everything in our power to ensure science and the truth persist. Let’s get to work.